Later that night, after the Essex County Board of Elections shared unofficial election results, her seat on the board was solidified alongside fellow councilor Richard “Dick” Cummings.

The two incumbent candidates defended their seats against challengers Edward “Andy” Borden and Fred Balzac. Kilburn Politi took the most votes with 914, more than 35% of the vote count. Cummings took 669, or 26%. Balzac had 574 votes, and Borden took 397. These numbers are not final; they include Election Day votes, early votes and some absentee ballots. There are still about 59 unreturned absentee ballots — not enough to sway the results.

“I am honored to serve the residents of North Elba for another four years,” said Kilburn Politi. “Our current board works well together and I am excited to keep our momentum going. Congratulations to Dick and thank you to Andy and Fred for making it a competitive race.”

Kilburn Politi, 43, currently sits on the town council and ran on the Democratic and LP Local party lines. She is also the president of the Adirondack Roots Board of Directors — formerly known as the Housing Assistance Program of Essex County — and a board member at the Homestead Development Corporation. Her campaign relied on her record as a public servant and housing advocate. In a candidate questionnaire in the Lake Placid News in late October, she said that housing is still the biggest problem facing North Elba, though she said that positive steps have been taken in recent years.

When asked why she was seeking reelection, Kilburn Politi said that she would like to continue the work she started in her last term, including updating the town’s Comprehensive Plan, her work on the child care task force and the Wesvalley Road sidewalk project. She also said that one of her goals for her next term was to stay below the 2% state tax cap while paying government employees “an appropriate wage.”

Cummings, 66, is a pharmacist who currently sits on the town council. He ran on the Republican and independent Integrity party lines. In his candidate questionnaire, he said that he was seeking reelection because “there is much more to complete” and he “truly enjoy(s)” his work on the council. Some of the main issues Cummings said he wanted to tackle in his second term were continuing to improve workforce housing, “fine tuning of short-term rental regulations including enforcement” and reducing taxes.

He indicated in his questionnaire that he wanted to address the imbalance in services for residents and tourists in North Elba, including attractions, programs and housing. He said Tuesday night that he plans to prioritize expanding the use of the town sports fields, continuing to regulate STRs and alleviating the tax burden on residents during his next term.

“I’m excited about it, to continue the work that the board has been doing,” Cummings said.

Balzac, who has run for office seven times previously in the towns of Jay and North Elba and in the village of Saranac Lake, congratulated Kilburn Politi and Cummings on their victories and said that he was “happy” to receive 10 times as many votes as he received when he ran for North Elba town supervisor in 2019. Balzac ran on the Green Party line in 2019 and received 58 votes then.

“I feel like I took some strong positions, very specific positions, and I think my message started to get out there,” he said. “I plan to stay involved, attending town board meetings and would love to see more people attend town board meetings in North Elba … We need people to come to every board meeting on a monthly basis and monitor what the board is doing.”

Borden could not be reached for comment by deadline.